The Fire That Consumes
by laughinginthebreeze
Summary: Request-four shot continuation from Her Love Is Their Destruction and Empty Promises. Caroline wonders whether she should be feeling bad about the look on Elena's face, whilst Damon can't help but notice that Elena is slipping away from him. Steroline, Delena, one-sided Stelena.
1. Chapter 1

_**The Fire That Consumes**_

 **This four-shot is based off** _ **Her Love Is Their Destruction**_ **and** _ **Empty Promises,**_ **from Caroline's POV, and Damon's, requested by Scooter127.**

She falls in love with Stefan. And, it is incredible.

There is no other word to describe it. Being with him makes her feel weightless, as though she could do anything. It is the definition of being alive.

And that is what she believes love is; you should love the person that makes you feel alive, and that is what she has finally found with Stefan Salvatore.

It took a lot of convincing on his part. Awkward smiles and shy glances with the electric brush of skin to skin contact, but here they are. Together and whole, moving on with their lives as normally as possible with each other (considering the circumstances of their vampiric nature), by going on their first date.

She's there ten minutes early, always prepared, always organised. Stefan whispered in her ear, breathless, sending shivers down her spine, that that was one of the things that he has always loved about her, as they lay curled up on her bed together, moments after their first kiss and the awkwardness that followed. Now, she finds that it is a skill she particularly excels in, even if in part for him.

She suddenly sees Elena, a few tables away, sitting alone, with a distant and somewhat sullen expression on her face, and she hurries over to greet her.

"Hey, Elena!" Caroline gushes, smiling brightly. She's aware, painfully so, that she sounds very excited and over the top, and quells her excitement down. Things between them have been a little tense after she had told Elena and Bonnie that she had kissed Stefan a few days ago, though had left out a few confessions of love, fearing that telling Elena that was too much, and she really hopes that the reason why she did that is actually her overactive and paranoid imagination telling her Elena was upset about the idea of her and Stefan together.

Elena snaps out of her stupor and smiles at Caroline, but it looks tight. "Hi, Care. What're you doing here?"

"Oh, uh," Caroline pauses, struggling with how to tell Elena about Stefan, which she had headed over here intent on doing, since Elena would have figured it out the moment Stefan walked through the door. "I'm-I'm here to see Stefan."

"Oh," Elena nods, looking distracted and slightly troubled. "Is something wrong, or…?"

"No, no, he just asked me yesterday if I would like to go out with him today… and I said yes." Caroline says hesitantly. For some reason, she feels guilty, and she can't quite pinpoint why.

"Oh." Elena's voice becomes noticeably colder. "So… you and Stefan." She muses, seemingly to herself. She worries her lip between her teeth in a sign that Caroline _knows_ is anxiety, and it is off-putting. Elena shouldn't be this anxious about her ex dating her best friend if she is truly over it. "That's wonderful! I'm so glad that you're happy, Care." She smiles radiantly, almost convincing, except it doesn't quite reach her eyes, and Caroline can't help but wish that she could feel more certain that Elena means what she is saying.

An awkward silence erupts between them, painful, cold, like it used to be in the old days, when Caroline was the outcast of the three of them, trying and failing to make polite small talk to fit in and feel accepted with Bonnie and Elena. It's not a feeling that should be welcome here. It shouldn't feel like this.

"Look, I know I've asked this before, but are you sure it's okay for me to see Stefan? After everything you two went through, I'd understand if it's too weird to see us together 'cause, you know, the friend code thing, don't date the ex, soo…" She's babbling now, she knows it, but the nervousness and fear that Elena still harbours feelings for Stefan feeds her insecurities, the ones she has always tried to bury deep down, since the day he told her that her and him weren't ever going to happen, that if Elena even so much as whistled, he'd go running back to her without hesitation, or that if she expressed any lingering interest in Stefan, it would destroy their tenuous new relationship. She knows Elena, and the person she became when she turned, and for some reason she doesn't think that she is any longer a person who would care about what happened to others as long as she got what she wanted in the process.

"Care, it's fine. Really. I've got no right to judge, dating the brother of said ex, remember?"

Caroline smiles in reply, and tries to feel relieved by Elena's comment. "Okay, well… I'm glad." She glances at the clock, suddenly desperate to leave. "Oh, I should probably go, Stefan will be here soon, so I'm gonna-"

"Got it, see you later, Care. Have a nice time." Elena says, beaming, looking slightly more relaxed. Caroline leaves hurriedly, heading back towards her table and sits down, quickly applying more lip gloss and fluffing her hair out, suddenly nervous.

He arrives not five minutes later, flannel shirt neatly pressed, trousers ironed, hair styled, and part of her briefly wonders if he picked out his outfit with her in mind, whilst the other part of her is pleased that he's clearly made an effort, presentation wise, for her.

"Hey," he grins visibly as soon as he sees her, heading over to her and kissing her fully on the lips, before sitting down next to her. It's kind of their thing, sitting next to each other rather than opposite, because before they always found comfort in being beside each other, and now that hasn't and won't be changed just because their relationship has.

"Hi!" she says in a bubbly tone, still glowing from his public affection towards her. He slings his arm over her chair, playing subtly with her hair as she begins rapidly talking about how her micro-biology class is going, and how she _isn't_ going to let a dead Doctor Wes stop her from being good at his class, and Stefan nods when appropriate, agrees when he should, and it almost seems like he has been practising for this he's so good at it, and she's not entirely sure whether it's because he's used to her vocal diarrhoea, or because he's actually listening, but it's the most respect she's gotten out of any of her boyfriends in well… pfft, _ever._ She doesn't know what persuaded Elena to drop him for _Damon,_ but she's now delighted in the long run because now _she_ has him and she's not planning on ever letting him go.

Then he starts talking about his day, and how much he missed her, all the sappy stuff she wants, and has never really ever heard before, and she can't stop smiling. Literally. Being around him just makes her grin and beam and laugh until her cheeks ache, and even then she still can't stop.

He grasps her hand in his, after removing his arm from her chair in order to do so, and smiles back. "Hey, it's your Tuesday look!" she jokes, intertwining their fingers.

Stefan laughs, eyes crinkling at the corners with the force of it as he understands what she means, and gives her arm a tug. "Come on, you still wanna go watch that movie?"

She nods eagerly, hiding the fact that the reason she wants to watch the movie is really an excuse to watch _him_ without interruption.

"Okay, let's go."

They stand up and leave together, still hand in hand, and pass Elena's table in order to get to the door. Caroline nods a goodbye to her, and Elena smiles in return, but her eyes are firmly fixated on Stefan, who has now stiffened, shooting Elena a look that Caroline can't quite see or decipher from the side, but judging by the way he jerks his head away, and Elena's shock clear on her face, it was something like distaste or close to hatred.

As Caroline grabs the door handle, stepping aside to let someone in, Stefan suddenly wraps his arm around her waist. Surprised and pleased, she glances down at his hand curling around her waist, an electric current running through her body at his touch, and as she looks up, she sees Elena again, still staring at them, still staring at _him._

When they walk out the door, Caroline wonders briefly whether she should be feeling bad about the look on Elena's face.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I got distracted with other updates, but here it is. :-)**

 **Disclaimer: Julie Plec, L.J Smith and the CW own tvd, not me.**

Two days later, and he's late.

He's late for their second date. Okay, only by eleven minutes, but she's Caroline Forbes, and this is the first time in her life anyone has put her first, so _excuse_ her for being a little insecure and neurotic about her boyfriend leaving her for who was once, and maybe still is, the epic love of his life. She may never live up to that hype, no matter how hard she tries, but she also surpasses expectations and does _not_ deserve to come second for trying too hard to be first.

But she still sometimes does. She still did, and she fears it will happen again with the one person it just can't.

 _Caroline. You and me, it's not gonna happen._

She knows it's silly to reminisce about a past no longer relevant to the present, but still, she wonders and worries. If he changed his mind once, what will stop him from doing it again?

A knock on the door interrupts her ruminating, and she practically flies to it, excited, more relaxed when she sees him standing there, a pitiful, almost annoyed expression on his face.

"You're late." Is the first thing that comes out of her mouth, though she softens it with a smile and a hug.

"Sorry, I got held up." He says, interlacing their fingers, and nuzzling into her hair. Affectionate, more than usual.

"What's wrong?" she says, frowning, pulling him up to look at her.

Stefan sighs reluctantly. "Just Elena, being more annoying than usual, sorry, I know she's your friend." He adds the last part offhandedly, as though it doesn't really matter.

"Well, what happened?" Caroline asks, wondering if she actually wants to know.

"She's just-it's that I…I can't believe the person she's become, you know? Someone I just don't want to be around." He's not telling her everything, he's avoiding the question so as to not hurt her feelings, but Caroline can't help but wonder. He _loved_ Elena, more than he may ever love her, for three years, and even when she began dating Damon and had completely disregarded and thrown their relationship away, he still wouldn't openly badmouth her, so what's changed?

"You're not telling me everything. What happened? Did you have an argument? Come on, Stef, she's my best friend, but you _also_ happen to be my best friend. You're my _boyfriend_ , for crying out loud, we're supposed to tell each other everything." She puts on an innocent expression even as she guilt-trips him.

He smiles, despite himself. "Look, let's just say she was just saying things that she shouldn't be saying considering that she's with my brother, and leave it at that, okay?"

Caroline sighs. "Fine." She'll get it out of him later, all she knows is that he's in a mood, and she has every intention of bringing him out of it because throughout everything, she is the only one who can still make him smile and laugh, and she kinda takes pride in the fact that Elena rarely ever could.

"You wanna watch a movie?" He asked, tugging at her hand impatiently, and she smiles brightly, though it's more to do with the fact that he can't stand to talk about the woman who was once the epic love of his life, would rather spend time talking to her, and Caroline loves it. (she knows it's horrible, but she can't help it, she's coming in first for once.)

She's finally shining.

 **-X-**

"Hmm, that wasn't terrible." She giggles as he kisses up her chest, along her neck and up onto her face. She kisses his mouth, nipping his bottom lip playfully, coming up from her haze of pleasure, and he groans contently.

"So, you gonna tell me what all that was about earlier?" She eventually remembers to ask. They wound up tangled together on the sofa three hours into the movie marathon, wearing nothing but the sheets, and she somehow managed to forget the TV was even on.

"What was all that about what?" Stefan looks down at her, eyes heavy lidded in bliss, and adopting an innocent façade. She slaps him playfully on the chest, before resting her head back onto his arm.

"You know what. You said you'd tell me later, it's later. What did Elena say to you that was so, well..." She struggles to find a word that suits, and yet doesn't badmouth Elena. "Out of order."

He laughs. "You know, talking about your boyfriend's ex after sex isn't exactly what most couples would have in mind."

She grins. "You're dodging the question again."

"Hmm, you can see right through me." He smirks. "Okay." He sits up. "She just implied that she didn't like us being together by saying she hadn't realised we were this close, and I was just...annoyed by the way she said it, that's all." He shrugs. Caroline wishes she could believe that was true. But she knows Elena Gilbert, the person she has become, and that wouldn't have been the only painful thing she had to say.

"What else did she say, Stefan?" She asks quietly. He stares at her impassively, and she sits up impatiently. "Come on, I deserve to know if she's not okay with us being together, and isn't being honest with me. Tell me!"

He sighs. "Fine. She also 'wondered' why you hadn't actually told her until we actually went on our first date that we were together since she first heard it from Bonnie, who said you mentioned I was uncomfortable with her knowing about us, you know, due to how she can react."

Caroline slowly digests this information, shocked. After everything Elena had put Stefan through, before choosing Damon _after_ being with Stefan, she actually had the nerve to criticise her relationship with Stefan, to be upset about it, although she was dating Caroline's ex and Stefan's brother, and then had _lied_ to her about it!

"But look, it doesn't matter." Stefan says, snapping her out of her thoughts, looking concerned. "We can't let her ruin things for us, it doesn't matter what she thinks, only that we're _together_ , okay?"

Caroline forces a smile onto her face, before kissing him softly, although her mind was a million miles away on cloud 'torture Elena Gilbert.'

"Yeah." She curls up against him again, smiling as his arm wraps around her waist. "Yeah, okay."

 **-X-**

 _Bam!_ The door bursts wide open, hitting the wall as Caroline storms in.

"Oh, don't worry Caroline, it's not like we want the door to stay intact from supernatural visitors, which is why we leave it unlocked." Damon says sarcastically from his position on the sofa.

She beams back. "Damon. Always a pleasure." She looks around. "Where's Elena?"

"Upstairs, why?" He asks, seeming to only just notice her mood.

"Never mind, you wouldn't want to hear about it." Caroline smiles, before heading up the stairs. She nearly runs into Elena, who is just coming out of Damon's room.

"Oh, there she is!" Caroline snaps sarcastically, nearly knocking a confused Elena sideways as she waves her arm to the side.

"Hey Care, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Caroline narrows her eyes at her friend, wondering how she can remain so calm, after in so many words, tried to ruin her relationship. "You know, it's funny. I was having a conversation with Stefan the other day, and he seemed to recall talking to you about something quite personal. What was it again?"

Elena's eyes widen. "Caroline -"

"Oh yeah," Caroline clicks her fingers and points at her. "You implying you weren't okay with me and Stefan by saying you hadn't realised we were that close. What do you think we all do when we're not around you, Elena? Hang around until you snap your fingers? I have a life, and so does Stefan!"

Elena shakes her head. "Just because I went out with him, it doesn't mean I wasn't okay with you two, Care -"

Caroline laughs. "No, you never say what you mean with words, do you? I'd rather you had been honest with me, not lied to me!"

"I'm not lying to you! I just said to Stefan that I wondered why you guys hadn't told me, since we've been over for years, so if anything, you two lied to me as well!" Elena shot back, growing indignant. Which, of course, is another lie.

"Telling you about our first date wasn't lying, was it? Besides, I saw the way you looked at him the other day. You wouldn't stop staring at us, so it's obviously a problem for you!" Caroline snaps. Typical. It was never Elena's fault, nothing bad ever to do with her that ever happened was her fault.

"Yeah, you told me, on the day of the date. When I was there. Obviously I would have looked over at you from time to time!"

"No, you were _full blown_ staring at him when we were leaving!" Caroline exclaims, and then sighs, rubbing her head. "Look, I don't want to fight, but I want to know why you said those things to Stefan."

For a moment, Elena doesn't answer, still staring at Caroline. "I just wanted to know what was going on. I consider you both friends, and - and -" Elena pauses, struggling for words.

"And?" Caroline prods.

"And, it was obvious you wouldn't have told me if I hadn't have conviently been there at the time. Despite being with him, you obviously have a problem with other people knowing about you two,so how else would I have known if I hadn't asked?"

That's the point where Caroline loses it. How dare she suggest that she didn't want to be seen in public with Stefan, as though she were ashamed to be with him! This is the point where Caroline explodes. "I've had enough of you constantly making snide comments about me and Stefan!" Caroline yells, clenching her fists together. "We are together now, and if you can't handle that, for whatever reason, then maybe you should have reconsidered who you wanted to be with a _long_ time ago, but now it's too late. Because he wasn't going to love someone who wouldn't love him back forever, and, honestly? It's your loss and my gain." She scoffs, and shakes her head.

"You know what's ironic? The Elena who had been with Stefan, the _old_ Elena, would never have even said those things to Stefan, but now? You don't even hesitate. It's like now you're with Damon, now you're a vampire, you're programmed to say or do anything to destroy yourself and everyone around you in order to keep yourself happy, and if you aren't careful, that's _exactly_ what's going to happen." Caroline says, before turning around, the triumph of the final say over her head.

Though as a fuming Caroline walks away, she doesn't realise quite how true her words will come to ring.

It's just a matter of time.

 **Thanks for reading. Next is Damon. :-)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I don't own tvd, if belongs to Julie Plec, L.J Smith and the CW.**

 **I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, but it is necessary to get to the next part of Damon's story. The next chapter is definetly going to be longer.**

 **Warning: Slight Delena bashing.**

She loves him.

He knows she does, with every fibre of his being. She's the only thing he's got left in this world, and she picked him over his brother.

Yeah, just thinking that sounds kind of dickish, probably is, but she _loves_ him, and to him that's the answer to everything. _She_ is his everything.

And it doesn't matter if or when they're having problems because _she's_ the one thing he's certain of, and she is the end of his eternity.

Damon whistles as he walks down the street, an almost hopeful spring in his step. The next dilemma seems almost improbable. Now the Ripper virus is cured, eternity is a promise again.

He walks, still jovial, towards the Grill, and is about to step in, when he freezes, seeing a scene he never thought he would ever see.

Caroline and Stefan are sitting together at a table, their drinks remaining untouched as he grins manically at her frantic expressions. He's never seen his brother so happy, and it's not the thing he's worried about.

It's the love of his life staring at them with a shocked and wistful face.

The sight could break him into a million pieces. He loves her. He loves her so much that it is something he can never quite fathom, can never quite get his head around. Just being near her is enough to satisfy him forever.

And she is still in love with his brother.

He can still feel it. The agony of loving her from afar as his brother loved her and she loved him. It's something he never wants to feel again, but somehow it's still there. Somehow, he knows it never left. He swallows the bitter lump of jealousy in his throat, tries to shove the feeling away and come up with a thousand excuses for the longing on Elena's face, but there is none.

The agony returns full-force.

After everything, every declaration of love, every kiss, every promise, everything he's done for her, he will _never_ be enough.

 _It's always gonna be Stefan._

Yeah, he should have believed _that_ when she told him.

The door opens, making him jump, and he skitters out of the way into the corner as somebody leaves, eyes fixated on the love triangle playing out right in front of him.

 _Tessa was right,_ he silently mocks himself, as Caroline and Stefan stand up to leave, passing by Elena as they do so. He doesn't know why he's torturing himself like this, torturing himself watching the love of his life pine after the same man she always, but maybe he wants, even just a little but, to see how this plays out.

Elena is still staring at them, even as they walk past her. She looks at Stefan, almost earnestly, which he returns with a glare so icy that it would be funny if it weren't aimed at the girl Damon loves, before wrapping an arm around Caroline's waist and grabbing the door.

 _He_ hates _her._ Damon realises as he watches them walk away. The irony of it is almost enough to make him hysterical. Elena moved on, with him, and still, Stefan pined for her, until one day, he didn't. And the day he fell in love with Caroline Forbes was the day Elena realised that she wanted him back. Only now he hates her, and Damon has no idea where he is supposed to fit into this. What this sick love triangle has turned into, and if it will ever end. Maybe it never will. The love story of Elena Gilbert and Stefan Salvatore at its best, and Damon Salvatore the obstacle always pushed aside.

Why couldn't it ever be him? Damon had sacrificed so much for her, had given her so much of his soul that there is now nothing left for him. And yeah, he had done some horrible things to her loved ones, but she had said she'd forgiven him, and in the end, he guesses he just wants her to tell him the truth. That Stefan was still in her heart. Or at least that she loved them both. But instead, she's hidden it, buried it down deep for all these years, and now she doesn't even realise what everyone else is now seeing: that she can't do it forever.

She's consumed by it. The power of loving and destroying two brothers, two who would love her and protect her for eternity, until it burns. Elena Gilbert, though unintentionally, he'll give her that, will never stop breaking hearts. And the saddest part of the story?

He loves her for it.


End file.
